May 22, 2012
Trusting God
Trusting God
Today I learned something from my cats, Mr. Brown and Star.
Summer has begun and the fleas are here. This morning when I fed the 4 outside cats I wanted to treat them with flea spray on their ears. I captured Star, who is friendly and easy going. Every morning, he is the first to come to greet me and be petted.
I sprayed Star's ears and rubbed the flea spray to make sure he had even coverage, but he struggled to get down. He didn't claw me or bite me, but he was offended and outraged that I would put wetness on his ears. Once I released him, he slunk away, out of reach and hid. He didn't speak to me for several minutes, which is like a week in cat time.
I captured Mr. Brown. When I picked him up. I placed him in my lap and stroked his fur. He relaxed and purred. He flinched when I sprayed the flea spray on his ears, but otherwise he didn't move. He trusted and endured. Though he didn't understand why I felt it necessary to make him uncomfortable, he basked in my love.
Trusting God is like that. God earns our trust in the things we can see are good for us. When it's clear He's guiding us, healing us or providing for us. But when He is doing something I don't understand I want to pull back and question Him. Like Star I am offended or hurt or annoyed or frightened. But God hasn't changed.
Mr. Brown, a cat, has the kind of faith in me that allows him to rest in my arms and let me do whatever I will. He knows that I am the same person who petted him gently when he was afraid, the same person who gave him tuna for a treat, the same person who knew what to do when he was injured. And, now when I'm spraying wetness on his ears and rubbing them, I'm still the same person.
I want to behave, think and believe toward and of God the way Mr. Brown behaves, thinks and believes toward me. I want to believe God is the same today when I'm suffering, when I wonder what He's doing, when I wonder where He is that He was when He was gentle, easy and intoxicating. God is the same yesterday, today and forever.
